Hey guys, just a quick heads up that this chapter gets a little NSFW later on, I've marked out where it starts and ends, so if you're a minor or you just don't like that sort of thing, you can skip it and the story still progresses like normal.
Also remember that the parts in italic are dreams, enjoy this chapter, it's a long one. :)
Infinite Stratos Chapter 7
"You called for me sir?" the nervous Scientist entered the room.
"Yes, Indeed I did, tell me, why is it, that we've sent our best subject to recapture 117, but I've yet to see any results" The president replied agitated.
"W-well, y-y-you see the thing is.." he started.
"ENOUGH, you are to get Subject 117 back to this lab asap if you wish to keep breathing, get it done, now get out" The president turned in his chair back towards the window, IS Academy barely visible in the distance.
It was the start of a new day in IS Academy, Kai showered and got ready for class, finally the excitement of becoming an Elite had sunk in.
"It's a lovely day, wouldn't you agree?" Kai said stretching at the window of his room.
"It's raining, it has been all night, and I assume it will be for the rest of the day" Laura, his room mate, replied, Kai loved her German accent.
"Still, there's no reason for us not to enjoy it" Kai turned smiling.
"You're acting strange... I don't like it" Laura replied tying her shoes.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? It'll be nice for you to be there" Kai said kneeling at the foot of the bed were Laura was sat.
"Uh, I don't really want to, I choose not to go wandering when everyone else is" She tried smiling back.
"Oh, well, maybe another time? It can just be us if you like?" He replied trying to comfort her, he'd never done it before, so he really didn't know what he was doing.
"Yeah, that'd be nice" Laura replied, giving him a small hug.
Kai walked out of the room headed for the cafeteria for breakfast, when Lin and Houki also left their rooms, only two doors to his left.
"Good morning Kai, you wanna' grab breakfast with us?" Lin said smiling and walking over with Houki.
"Yeah, that's cool, why don't we wait for Cecilia and Charlotte then we can all go down together?" Kai suggested.
A few more minutes past as the last two girls left their room and saw the group waiting outside for them, they all started walking down the hall, the four girls leading as Kai and Houki pulled back a little so they could hold hands for the small time they weren't seen, they decided it would be best not to let anyone know about them.
Cecilia opened the door to the cafeteria when Scarlett barged past them and lunged straight for Kai, the others thought she was going to attack him, but she actually tackled him to the ground in tears.
"Oh Kai, I'm so happy you've become part of the Elite, I've been thinking about you since I woke up this morning" she sobbed.
"Uh, can you get off of me please?" He asked, trying not to lose his cool, Scarlett has nothing but stress for Kai, it was bugging him a lot more than it should've done.
"Oh sure silly!" She replied, her tears subsiding.
"Do you mind if I join you for breakfast? I have something important to ask you!" Scarlett's face lit up.
"I'm sorry, but the table will be full, with us... His friends" Lin said, recalling her partially deployed IS from when she thought Kai was being attacked.
"Well, I'll just sit on the table next to yours" Scarlett squealed happily, running back into the cafeteria.
Cecilia and Charlotte both took one of Kai's hands and helped him up, he sighed as he brushed himself down. Walking in, everyone stopped and stared at the small group, freaking Kai out a little.
"You'll get that for a while" Charlotte chuckled "Just let the excitement pass and you'll be fine".
The group picked up their breakfast, and found the biggest table available, it was a semi-circle table built into the wall, Kai sat down first and before anyone could think about taking a seat, Cecilia and Lin both rushed to either side of Kai, leaving Houki and Charlotte to sit on the outside.
"Oh Cecilia, how is your IS?" Kai asked biting into some toast.
"Still being reviewed, you did quite a number on me, but it was worth it, I'm glad you're one of us now" she said hugging his arm.
"Well Kai, I don't mind if you do that to my IS! I don't even mind if you destroy it completely!" Lin was quick to retaliate, also clinging to his arm.
Kai was starting to pick up on what Houki said, why are they acting like this? It was kind of annoying. His trail of thought was broken by a loud, annoying noise. Scarlett slammed her hands on their table, just like when Kai challenged Cecilia for the second time.
"Kai, I want to challenge you to be part of the Elite!" She said excitedly.
"But you can't, you have to fight Cecilia first, there's 6 of us you know" He replied sipping his coffee.
"Well, actually..." Charlotte started "Since Cecilia is out of action for the time being, you'll need to take her place as the next on up, meaning if you lose, Cecilia will be knocked out in place of Scarlett".
Kai really felt the pressure, sure Cecilia was a little annoying and obnoxious, but she was his friend, he didn't want to see her get taken out of the Elite.
"Ok, In 3 day's time, I will fight you for the number 6 spot in the IS Elite" Kai replied glaring into Scarlett's eyes.
"It's a date then!" She replied blowing a kiss his direction before running off.
"Well that got heated quick" Houki said breaking the tension, she was obviously annoyed at Scarlett's actions.
"Kai, if you're going to be fighting her, and Lin for that matter, you're going to need training, meet me after class for some sparing, ok?" Houki said eating some cereal.
"Yeah, that could be a good idea, she's number 3 for a reason!" Lin said, eating some toast now she'd finally let go of Kai's arm.
"Alright, but I don't think there's much left you can teach me, I've been using my swords for a very long time" He remarked.
"I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself" Charlotte warned playfully.
The bull rung for class, everyone walked to their respective classrooms. Laura was right, the rain hadn't stopped and probably wouldn't for the rest of the day.
Miss Yamada was explaining the basics of the IS's thrusters, stuff Kai already knew, so he found this class to be quite boring, looking around the room, he was looking for something to entertain himself.
"Psst! Kai, over here!" a voice said, looking behind him, Scarlett was sat there, why did she move seats?
"This is for you" she said passing him a little scrap of paper, Kai opened it.
"I just wanted to let you know, that I think you're super cute, and I can't wait for out battle, and if I win, we can be together, like boyfriend and girlfriend and..." Kai felt a strange anger build up inside him, never before had he been so annoyed by one single person.
"SCARLETT, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE IT OUT? I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU, SO STOP GOING ON ABOUT THIS KIND OF SHIT" he jumped out of his seat, shouting and throwing the paper back in her face, the whole class, even Miss Yamada was stunned at what he just did.
"I-I uh, I need to be excused" He quickly walked out of the classroom and down the hall.
"What was that? Why do I get so angry around her? There's just something about her that doesn't sit right with me" he thought, sitting down at a near by bench.
It wasn't long before he was joined by Laura, who was going about her business, because everyone was in class, leaving no one in the hallways.
"Why are you out of class?" She questioned.
"Long story" Kai sighed.
"Well make sure you head back soon, if Chifuyu catches wind of you being out here, she'll go ballistic" she reminded him as she wandered off.
The bell rang, signalling the end of class, the students flooded the halls, and left as quick as they came.
"Hey, are you ok?" Charlotte asked sitting next to him "That was quite an outburst".
"Yeah, I just needed to get out of the classroom, Scarlett was annoying me that's all" he replied quietly.
"She must've done more than annoy you for you to lash out at her like that!" she said trying to get through to him.
"I don't know what it is Charlotte, one minute I'm fine, and the next I'm just full of anger, but only around her, I don't want to be anyone's enemy, but I can't stand the girl!" He said leaning back closing his eyes.
"Hmm, well look" she started, placing her hand on his "I'm always here if you need me, all of us are, you're one of us now, and we treat each other like family, so don't hesitate to talk to me, ok?" she said in her lovely French accent, Kai was still quite fond of it.
"Thanks, I better get going, Houki's going to be waiting for me" he smiled, giving her a little nod, he walked off down the hallway.
Kai walked down to the arena, the rain still pouring, when he saw something that made him stop in his tracks, looking down at the arena from the window, he saw that same green IS as he did when he wondered the Academy to get his bearings, he was sure it was the same one. Picking up the pace, he made it to the arena, but the green IS was on the other side, deploying his IS he charged at the other pilot, only to be turned on and blocked by the sword it constructed.
"H-houki? No way, it was you I saw that day!" Kai said astonished.
"What do you mean? When did you see me?" She questioned advancing on him with the sword.
"It was early in the morning, I was wondering the academy so I wouldn't get lost so easily, but I found myself in the spectators box, up there, and I saw an IS Pilot, using a basic test model, but they way they piloted it, was like nothing I've ever seen, that someone was you!" he explained.
"Right well, did you want to spar or not?" she said in a huff.
"I guess so" He replied constructing his sword.
"Ready? I'm coming at you!" Houki yelled.
The rain made the swords slide off each other when they clashed, she was fast, did she make it to number 3 using that basic IS? Houki followed up with another quick overhead swing, but he caught it with his free hand, smiling and turning at her from looking at the sword, his smile turned to a frown as a big metal fist impacted his stomach armour, pushing him back quite a distance.
"You let your guard down, that sort of thing will make you weak and open, you always keep your eye on the opponent, you got that?" she yelled, Kai was quite honestly scared, he'd never seen Houki like this.
"Now come at me!" She yelled again.
Kai ran flew at her with his sword ready for a diagonal strike, but before he could swing, Houki had charged up to his IS, disarmed him, and flipped him over, once again putting a hard punch into his chest.
"You're only using your weapons to fight, these are big machines Kai, and they're heavy, try to use each limb like it's actually your own, don't just trust in your weapons" she kneeled down next to him and said.
The rain was getting heavier, but Houki insisted that they fight more, she taught him more than just to attack with his swords, he learned how to defend, parry & counter strike, even disarm. Quite a crowd gathered in the hallway that overlooked the arena, watching the 2 IS pilots strike at each other like they mean business.
"Do you understand now? Not all IS fights had to be about who has the better weapons and who can hit the hardest? Look at me, I'm in a basic IS and you're in a completely modified one, and I could take you out right here and now" She mocked.
Kai was getting cold from the rain, but he wanted to fight one more time, to prove that he'd actually learned something.
"Once more, let us go once more and we can head inside, ok?" Kai requested.
"Eager to lose eh? Very well, you'll be doing it again soon enough" she teased.
They both charged each other at the same time, the speed of the swords were swung made them almost impossible to see, although a thick amount of sparks could be seen between the 2 IS's. Houki went for a critical strike at his chest, lunging with her sword, but Kai caught it, disengaging his sword he caught her swing, and proceeded to block her income punch, pulling her to the ground and him overpowering her IS by holding down the arms and legs.
The rain didn't let up, they stared into each others eyes, him holding her IS down so she couldn't move, both of their breathing was heavy from the training.
"So, what now" Houki said looking into his eyes.
"Maybe we should head back, and get out of this rain?" Kai suggested.
Kai recalled his IS, leaving him to drop next to Houki, she too recalled hers as she climbed on top of him, they kissed passionately. He felt the anger caused by Scarlett melt away, luckily no one was in the stands to see their intimate moment, Kai could see Houki's nipples through her Battle costume making it hard to cover up his own bulge in the tight battle attire, the rain was cold, and he could feel her shivering.
He picked her up from the ground, like a prince would a princess, and carried her back to the locker room, leaving Houki in the main room, he went and looked for some towels to dry off. Returning he was greeted to a half naked Houki, she screamed as Kai freaked out and turned the corner.
"I have the towels" he said, letting his mind run rampant on the image of Houki naked, making it less than obvious in his tight combat attire.
"Could you pass one here please" Houki's little voice said. She sounded so much different here than she did out in the arena, like she was a completely different person.
Putting his hand out to hand her a towel, his hand met something soft, a little wet, and lightly moving up and down, it was quite large too. Red faced he looked to his left, realising his hands were inbetween Houki's breasts.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry, please forgive me, I'll just go" Kai started walking off, but she grabbed his wrist.
"N..no please wait, it's ok, I mean, we're together now, this is bound to happen" she said, her cheeks redder than a rose, her body still dripping wet from the rain.
Kai gulped hard, turning slowly, his eyes were gifted with Houki half naked once more, her breasts were a lot larger than her uniform suggested, her light pink nipples still erect from the cold, her curves were amazing.
"A-are you sure? I mean, we can just act like this never happened" Kai said his cheeks red too.
"No, I want this to happen" she replied quickly looking into his eyes.
"Maybe somewhere a little more suitable though" she smiled.
Taking his hand she led him into the shower room, luckily everyone was back at their rooms, the school was empty, they had all the time in the world.
Houki turned on one of the showers, letting the hot water flow over her naked body, turning around she let Kai run his hands over her body, he caressed her soapy breasts as she moaned, she was quite vocal as he rubbed her nipples.
"P-please, I'm sensitive there, don't be so rough" she moaned.
He ran his hands down her body and down to her sex, making her writhe in pleasure, kissing down her neck, he slowly put a finger inside of her, squeezing her breast, he slowly picked up the pace, rubbing her faster and faster, he could feel her juices flowing onto his hand, he felt a lot more weight on his hand as he legs started giving way as her orgasm erupted through her body.
Houki reached behind her and took a strong grip of his stiff manhood as she could feel it poking into her back, she almost couldn't stand with Kai going to work on her downstairs, she slowly started jerking him, going at the same pace as he was to her, until her hand and back was covered in his seed, removing his hands, she turned around, still with his piece in her hand, and kissed him deeply, the battle for tongue dominance was matched by intensity only by the strong jerking Houki was performing with her hand.
She knelt down in front of him, face to face with his manhood, would she really do this?
"I love him, I'd do anything for him, I want to please him" She thought as she slowly put the length near her mouth, her tongue teasing the tip, licking up any seed that remained from his earlier outburst. Slowly she put her mouth around the pole, it was a lot larger than she anticipated, but she slowly slid her mouth down, further and further until it finally hit the back of her throat, looking up Kai's eyes closed, his hand against the wall to support the amount of pleasure convulsing through his body.
She picked up the pace, taking more and more in, but a lot quicker over time, he couldn't hold it anymore, she was quite skilled with her mouth.
"H-houki, I.. I'm gonna" he started before she finally took the whole length in her mouth, she almost found it too hard, but she felt his hot seed hit the back of her throat and slowly seep down her throat. Removing his manhood from her mouth she swallowed anything left in her mouth.
Looking up, she could see Kai heavily breathing, his eyes still closed.
"Did you like it?" She asked worryingly, thinking she might have gone too far.
"That... that was amazing Houki, I've never done this before, I'm sorry I didn't last long" he said half smiling.
Houki looked right in front of her, he still had a few goes left in him before he was really finished. She stood up, finding it hard as her orgasm from earlier left her legs weak.
Hanging on to Kai's shoulders, she said;
"I guess it's your turn" and with that, she put both hands on the wall and bent over, revealing all to Kai, which instantly made him hard once more.
"I uh, need a little help" he said turning red with embarrassment, of course, he'd never done this before.
"It's alright, here" she replied reaching back, taking his length and pointing him in the right direction "Just be gentle and take it slow, ok?".
Kai slowly started pushing into her, it was tight, almost to the point were he wouldn't fit, he could've sworn Houki's moans were getting him harder by the second, then it finally happened, his whole length slid straight inside her, the water was an excellent lubricant.
Kai started slow, keeping a decent rhythm until he started feeling a little more comfortable, then he started picking up the pace, making Houki moan louder and louder, his own moans were getting quite vocal too, reaching over he grabbed Houki's breasts and pulled he upwards, caressing her nipples she couldn't control her body, she twisted and writhed, never before had her body been under such immense pleasure.
It wasn't long before Kai started feeling it again;
"I.. I'm gonna' come again Houki" he warned.
"Just pull it out when you're there" she managed before moaning once more.
After a few more hard pumps from Kai, he finally felt it once more, and pulled out in time for his seed to drip down the drain, panting and out of breath, both Kai and Houki collapsed to the ground, the warm water from the shower still covering them both.
"That was amazing" Houki managed, leaning over on Kai's shoulder.
"Was... was that your first time?" he asked her.
"Y-yes it was, and I wouldn't have had it any other way" she smiled locking hands with him.
After regaining their strength, they showered, properly this time, got dressed, and headed back towards their rooms.
While walking back, Kai slipped his hand into Houki's, and pulled himself closer to her.
Holding hands, they stopped outside Kai's door once again.
"Strange, it doesn't seem that long ago we were here" Houki laughed.
"Yeah, I've had an amazing time tonight, I love you Houki" Kai said.
This made Houki turn bright red, smiling she replied;
"I love you too, Kai, now go on, get some sleep, you'll need it seeing as we're all going shopping tomorrow!" she said excitedly.
"Shopping? Why?" Kai asked, kind of annoyed that he couldn't spend all day in bed.
"Well, now you're part of the Elite, you need to look the part, it's time we found some clothes that match your IS's colour scheme, ok? I'll see you tomorrow" she replied giving Kai a little peck on the lips, and she disappeared down the hall and into her dorm.
Kai retired to his room, collapsing on his bed he felt like he just fought a 100 IS battle royale, it didn't take long for his heavy eyes to give way as he sunk into his pillow.
"Kai you've won the match, kill the subject to make it official" The president said.
"N..No, I don't want to kill anyone" A young Kai replied, tears forming.
"Kai, you better kill him or so help me god you'll be getting the chair tonight you little shit, KILL HIM" The president slammed his hand on the bloodstained glass.
"I'm so sorry" Kai said to the failed subject raising his sword, the tears running down his cheeks, as he slammed the sword into the subject's chest".
"NO DON'T DO IT" Kai screamed as he sat up, his nightmare causing partial deployment of his IS's right hand and sword. His breathing was heavy and his bed was soaked in sweat.
The sunlight glared through the windows of Kai's room, it was nearly noon on a Saturday morning and Kai hadn't bothered setting an alarm, Laura tried getting him up but had no luck in doing so. Heavy knocks were heard at his door.
"Kai? Kai are you up yet? Get your lazy ass out of bed" The muffled voice shouted.
Lin walked into his room, disgusted at how his uniform and underwear were thrown about the place.
"Laura surely doesn't let him live like this?" She though navigating to his bed.
She was taken off guard, Kai didn't have his duvet to cover his top half, leaving his quite toned upper half exposed to the world. At first Lin averted her eyes, she didn't want to see him half naked, but something caught her eye, walking over she noticed the scars across his stomach, ever so gently, she ran her hands down his body, feeling if the scars were real, also getting a quick feel on his visible six pack, making her face turn red. She also noticed how his duvet almost left his bottom half exposed.
"I wonder if he..." she thought to herself as her hand slowly reached downwards.
"W..what are you doing in here Lin?" a drowsy Kai asked in confusion.
Making the small girl jump out of her skin, she turned and swung the fist of her partially deployed IS into Kai's face, luckily enough he was able to partially deploy his to defend from her attack.
"Lin, why are you in my room? And why are you touching me?" he asked, now more awake.
"Well, you've been asleep all day and the others want to go shopping already, and I can't explain the other question sorry, I'll go now" She replied recalling her IS and walking out, she couldn't leave quick enough.
Kai stretched and swung his legs out of bed, he could feel the heat from the sun, already, getting up he opened the window, a pleasant breeze entered, blowing his hair into his eye.
"Ah fuck, I need to get a haircut eventually" he thought running a hand through his long-ish brown hair, he walked into the bathroom for a quick shower before they headed off.
"Lin what's wrong? Why are you red?" Cecilia asked, now she was out of the medical ward.
"Oh, it..it's nothing" she thought rolling the image of Kai topless in her mind.
"I don't think it's nothing, what did you see in there? WAS HE NAKED?!" Cecilia screamed in the poor girls face.
"No! He wasn't naked Jesus Cecilia would you quit shouting?!" Lin replied getting annoyed at her random out bursts.
"C'mon guys, there's no need to fall out" Charlotte started.
"Yeah, the last thing we need is everyone falling out before the trip" Houki said jokingly.
The chatter was stopped when Kai stepped out of his room, as it was a hot day he decided he would wear his old clothes, some slightly torn jeans and his t-shirt, his hair still slightly wet were he didn't bother drying it, thinking the sun would do It soon enough. All the girls stopped and turned, the scruffy look suited him rather well.
"Good afternoon guys, sorry I left it so late, I was so tired! But I'm ready to go if you are" he said smiling.
"Ah yes, now you're finally here dear, we can set off into the sun, and you get the pleasure of escorting me there" Cecilia gracefully walked to his side, locking her arms around his.
"Hey guys, you headed off somewhere?" The voice from behind them said, Kai already knew who it was, her voice already made his blood boil.
"We're going out for the day, we're going now, unfortunately, you're not invited" Kai said not even turning to acknowledge her, he simply walked off.
Kai and the girls were the only ones on the tram coming out of IS Academy, Charlotte looked over at Kai and asked;
"So, why was you rude to Scarlett? She just asked a question you know" Obviously annoyed at the way Kai talked to her.
"I'm sorry Charlotte, but there's something about her, I can't stand her voice or to be around her, it makes me so angry and I don't know why, so I decided it would be best if I stay away from her completely" He replied looking out of the window at the scenery.
It wasn't long before they arrived at the station, it was just a small walk to make into town, Kai hadn't been here in a while, last time he was, he used the internet café to find out about IS Academy.
"Alright girls, we need to find Kai something to go with his IS, so remember, black and red, if you find something cool, send us all a picture on your mobile and we'll come and try it on, ok?" Houki announced, the others cheered in unison.
"They seem kind of hyped over some shopping, are all girls like this?" Kai thought to himself.
All the girls dispersed before Kai could ask to hang with one of them, Charlotte turned and saw the confused look on his face.
"Are you ok Kai? You look like you've never been here before!" She laughed.
"Yeah, it's been a while since I've been here, that's all, don't suppose I could hang with you, I don't really know any clothes shops" Kai laughed scratching the back of his head.
"Uh yeah, that'd be cool" Charlotte replied happily.
The two wondered from shop to shop, not to interested in the task at hand, they knew that Cecilia would find something eventually, she's got a keen eye.
"Do you want something to drink? I'm buying" Charlotte asked walking to the nearest coffee shop.
"Uh, yeah ok, that sounds cool" he laughed nervously, he'd never been to a coffee shop before.
Taking a seat, Kai observed the menu, half of the thing's he'd never actually heard of before, but with that in mind, he'd only ever heard chatter from the Scientists in the lab, and they never really mentioned coffee, apart from the start of their shifts.
"What would you like, Kai?" Charlotte said amused at his concentration face.
"I.. don't actually know, I'll have whatever you're having I guess" he said folding and putting down the menu.
Charlotte went to the counter to order the two drinks, looking outside something peaked Kai's interest, he saw long red hair, and he felt the anger he always did when Scarlett was around, why would she follow them?
"Are you ok? You look tense Kai" Charlotte returned with their drinks.
"Two cappuccinos, hot from the kettle" She smiled taking a sip.
Kai look down at the frothy drink in front of him, it looked... strange.
"And people drink this?" Kai thought.
He picked up the cups handle, and brought it to his mouth, taking a sip his mouth turned like he sucked a lemon, obviously he didn't like it.
"It's not that bad" He said to Charlotte not wanting to know he hated it, just to get it done and over with, he chugged the whole drink while it was still hot.
"Oh, if you like I can get you anoth-" Charlotte started.
"NO!" he shouted"I-I mean, don't worry about it, the one was enough for me, really" He continued smiling, when really he died a little inside.
Kai stepped outside for some fresh air, when really he wanted to get away from drinking any more coffee, when quite a commotion happened down the street.
"STOP, THIEF" a elderly man shouted.
Looking to his right, he could see a man dressed in all black push people out of the way, he was holding a big sack, loads of paper falling out of it. As the man ran past Kai, he grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back, his superior strength stopping the thief in his tracks.
"What are you doing sir? Why do you have a bag full of money?" he asked in curiosity.
"Let me go you stupid fucking kid" the thief wiggled around in Kai's grip/
"Oh thank you young man, thank you" The elderly man bowed as the police took the thief away.
"Please take this, it's the least I could do" he said also, handing a large pile of coloured paper to Kai.
"Uh thanks I guess?" He replied.
As the commotion died down, Charlotte finished her drink and stepped outside to see Kai walking with a handful of cash.
"Uh Kai, were did you get all that money?" she asked worryingly.
"Well, I stopped a man with a sack full of money, and this man gave me this money, you can have it if you want" He said not to bothered about the whole event.
After telling Kai to leave it in his pocket, she checked her phone, still nothing from the others, she would've thought they'd found something by now, but still, her and Kai continued their search for a jacket. Their searches took them to a small shop on the edge of the strip, a cluttered and dusty old second hand shop, walking in a small bell went off signalling the door had been opened. Charlotte went looking at the antiques as Kai walked over to the clothes rack, flicking through the old shirts and trousers, something caught his eye on the floor behind the rack, picking it up revealed it to be a black blazer-like jacket with two dark red stripes going down each arm.
"Hey Charlotte, I think I've found something" he called out still inspecting the jacket., brushing off the dust.
"Oh my, it's perfect!" She said excitedly walking over.
Kai slipped his arms into the jacket, the body and arm length were perfect.
"Hang on, let me take a photo of you in it to send to the others!" She said looking for her phone.
"I see you've found something you like" an old lady's voice crackled from behind the till at the other end of the shop.
"Uh, yes, how much is this jacket?" Charlotte asked as they walked over.
"Hmm, I'm afraid I can't sell you this jacket, you see it was my late sons, I don't know why it was on the rack, I'm sorry" she said tucking the jacket away behind the till.
"Wait, how will this do?" Kai asked pulling out the stack of money he acquired earlier.
"Where did you get that may I ask? That seems like quite a bit of money to have for such a young man such as yourself" the old lady asked raising her brow.
"I earned it, it's my pocket money from my parent's" Kai lied "I've been saving up for about a year now, and I've found something I'd like, please could I have it?" He tried to sound sincere.
In truth, his lie hurt him more than anyone else, the thought of actually being part of a family tore him apart, but he braved his emotions. The old lady looked at the stack of money and made her mind up.
"Would you like a bag?" She smiled.
Relived, Kai replied "No thanks, I'll wear it now!".
Walking out the shop with his newly acquired jacket, the other's had already congregated outside.
"Don't get me wrong, it's a nice Jacket, but from a second hand shop? Please" Cecilia said smugly.
"Well I like it, it suits him" Lin said landing a playful punch on his arm.
"Yeah, it looks great" Houki smiled looking into his eyes, Kai could fall in love over and over with her sapphire eyes.
"Man I'm hungry!" Lin shouted ruining the moment.
"Don't worry, I've planned ahead and made enough food for everyone" Houki smiled removing her back pack.
These words were music to Kai's ears, he always had time for Houki's food.
"Let's go to the park to eat, it's a lovely day, and I'm sure the grass is dry from the rain yesterday" Cecilia said walking off, leaving the others no choice but to follow along.
"I really like your jacket" Houki said squeezing Kai's hand.
"Thanks, I never thought we'd find one" he smiled back, looking before he did so, planting a small peck on Houki's lips, she went extremely red.
Everyone followed Cecilia for what seemed like forever around the park, trying to find the 'perfect' spot, when they all finally settled on sitting on a hill under a tree, the suns heat was still present, leaving everyone sweating.
"Did you bring a something to sit on? I'm not sitting on the ground in this dress, it's my favourite" Cecilia asked Houki.
"I forgot, sorry!" she said, not actually sorry.
"Never mind, I'll sit on Kai's lap, I'm sure he wont mind" she replied, before he could anything, he planted herself on his lap, her bottom a lot softer than he thought it'd be.
Everyone went about eating the food Houki had prepared.
"Uh, Kai, I made you your own bento, I know you've got quite the appetite so I thought you'd like your own" Houki smiled as she passed him a small box.
Popping it open revealed rice, sweet and sour pork & some sushi.
"Houki, you didn't have to do this" He replied, amazed at the effort she put into this.
"YOOHOO GUYS, OVER HERE!" a voice shouted, that voice.
The pale red headed girl ran over to the group waving her hands.
Kai felt it again, that.. anger, why is this happening? Why him? Why her?"
He slipped his legs out from under Cecilia, placed his bento on the ground and started walking over to Scarlett, he partially deployed his IS's right hand and sword, putting it up to the red headed girl and started;
"Why are you here, you wasn't invited, I don't want you anywhere near me Scarlett".
"W..why are you like this Kai? I just thought we could hang out that's all" tears forming in her eyes.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to fight you tomorrow, be ready" he replied, recalling his IS.
Walking away, he felt light headed and starting to find it hard to walk, until he finally fell to the ground on all fours, his vision blurry, he could hear the others calling to him to see if he was ok, he finally blacked out.
"You really hate her, don't you?" A demonic voice said.
"What.. Where am I? Who are you?" Kai demanded
"Why, I'm you" a voice said behind him, the same brown hair, but his eyes, they were red with hate.
"When you fight her, you should kill her" the other Kai smiled demoniacally.
"No! As much as I hate her, I'm not going to kill her, I promised myself I'd never kill again!" Kai shouted back.
"We'll see, all you've got to do is wake up, just wake up Kai, please wake up!" the other Kai disappeared, his voice echoing into nothing.
Kai opened his eyes, Cecilia was leaning over him, tears dripping down as she was shouting at him to wake up.
"Cecilia what are you doing, get off of me" Kai scrambled up, they were still in the park.
"What... Happened?" he asked scratching his head.
"Scarlett showed up, but you pulled your IS's sword out on her, it was pretty epic, oh and you're going to be fighting her tomorrow" Lin said eating what looked like Kai's bento.
"What? I don't remember any of this" he said putting his face in his hands.
"Can.. can we just go back, please? We got what we came for, I... want to go back" Kai said quietly.
"But it's still really nice out-" Cecilia started as Kai placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Please" he simply said.
She didn't argue anymore, they packed up and left, making sure Kai wouldn't pass out again, he was quiet all the way back to the tram station. All the others were worried, why couldn't he remember his own actions?
"I'm going to head to my room, I need to chill out" Kai said quietly walking away.
"Are you sure? Did you want to talk?" Houki asked him.
"No, I'll see you tomorrow ok? Thank you for today, I had a lot of fun" he said hugging her, not caring who saw.
Kai walked into his room, Laura was sat on her bed writing in what looked like a journal.
"You're back early" she said not turning her head from the journal.
"Yeah, something happened, I need some sleep" he said collapsing onto his bed.
"Are you ill? Because if you are I'm not sleeping in the same room as you" she said snapping the journal shut.
"No, nothing like that, I just... need some rest that's all" he said with a little smile.
"I like your jacket, it suits you, have a nice nap" she said retuning to writing.
"Uh, it's still night? Where's Laura? She probably went for a walk" Kai thought as he woke up.
Kai walked into the bathroom, finishing his business he washed his hands, glancing up at the mirror he saw the same red eyed clone he saw when he blacked out.
"Did you miss me?" it smiled.
The bathroom around him started melting away, the floor gave way as he fell into the training pit he used to fight in at Future Genetics. Getting up he saw the red eyed him walking towards him.
"Stay the fuck away from me! You're not real!" Kai yelled.
"Oh, I'm real alright, YOU made me, from all of that hate built up inside you, I was born, I'm like you, just a little more... violent" he smiled.
"No, you're lying, YOU'RE FUCKING LYING" Kai shouted as he charged the other Kai with his partially deployed IS and sword, stabbing the clone.
"Oh, why would you go and do that? I thought you loved her?" the clones voice said lauging.
Looking closer, he saw it was Houki, he'd stabbed and killed Houki. Falling to his knees he started crying next to her corpse.
"I...I'm sorry, I didn't... I... I don't want..." Kai tried, he couldn't formulate a sentence.
"This could happen to her, all you've got to do to save her, is LET. ME. OUT." the voice whispered in his ear.
"NO, I WON'T" Kai screamed waking up sweating, still wearing his clothes from earlier.
"K..Kai? It's like 5 in the morning why are you shouting?" Laura whispered.
"Houki? Is Houki ok?" He panicked.
"Houki's fine, what are you going on about?" Laura asked sitting up, looking over she could see tears dripping from Kai's covered eyes.
"It's the nightmares, isn't it? I had them too, it's hard" Laura said holding her hand over her eye patch.
"It... was so real" Kai sobbed.
Laura got up and climbed on to his bed.
"You know, I had no one to help me with my nightmares, but there's no reason why you should be alone" Laura said putting her head against his.
"Did you want to talk?" She asked.
Kai looked up at her, she'd removed her eye patch, revealing a beautiful golden eye.
"Is, that?" Kai started.
"Yes, it's what Future Genetics did to me, and I have to live with it every day, and when I first started here, I was tormented by everyone, that's why I stay in my room throughout the day" she said quietly.
"Why didn't you tell me? I would've stood up for you" Kai replied trying to smile.
"Like I said, I've had no one to help me with this, and I don't expect anyone to help me" she said looking down at her hands in her lap.
Kai took her hands and held them tight.
"Well, you're not alone anymore, ok? We can do this together, if you'd like?" Kai said looking straight into her eyes.
Without any notice, Laura leant forward and kissed Kai, he didn't resist, he didn't want to, it felt right, although he devoted himself to Houki, he just couldn't pull away. Laura pulled back a little.
"I'd love that" she replied, and hugged him tight.
The two spent the next couple of hours laying in bed in each others arms, taking it in turns to talk about their past experiences and their nightmares. They we're both finally falling asleep when Kai's alarm clock went off, 8:30am.
"I've got to get up soon, I said I'd fight Scarlett today for Cecilia's spot on the Elite" Kai said looking up at the ceiling.
"Why are you so eager to fight her?" Laura asked turning to him.
"I just, I don't know, I feel like I need to fight her, and if she loses, I'll make sure she never comes back" he turning to look at Laura.
"Hey, did you want to get breakfast today?" he smiled at her.
"I... I don't know, It's just-" Laura started.
"Laura, I promise you'll be fine, and I never go back on my promises" he said looking into her eyes, one a dark crimson and the other a beautiful gold, only outmatched by her accent, which Kai still loved.
Kai walked into the bathroom and had a quick shower, eager to show off his new jacket. Stepping out, he quickly dried up and got dressed, walking out of the bathroom, Laura was dressed and ready for him, also with her eye patch on.
"Lets do this" he smiled.
Houki and Lin were chatting outside their room when Kai and Laura stepped out of theirs.
"Oh good morning Kai, and Laura? It's strange to see you at this time" Houki teased.
"Yes well, I'm coming to have breakfast with you all today" she said standing behind Kai holding on to the back of his jacket.
"We're going to head down and grab a table, we'll see you there?" Kai asked.
"Yeah, We'll be down soon" Lin replied, jumping in front of Houki before she could answer.
Kai could feel Laura shaking, was she really this nervous? What happened last must've been bad.
Walking into the cafeteria, barely anyone was there, but the smell of bacon and toast filled the air.
"See, it's not that bad, is it?" he smiled at Laura.
"We'll see" She replied quietly.
Grabbing their food, they sat down on one of the main semi-circle tables, when a group of 3 girls walked in, this made Laura almost freeze, it was Celia, the girl who tormented Kai on his first day.
"Oh, my, god. Is that Cyclops? How you doing you fucking weirdo?" the girls laughed.
Looking down, Kai could see the tears forming in her eyes, he wasn't having any of it.
"Hey Celia, how about you keep your stupid ass opinions to yourself?" he stood up, the few girls in the cafeteria turning and looking to see the commotion.
"Oh, it's you" she sneared "Why are you hanging out with her? Why don't you hang out with the cool group?" She extended a hand.
"Celia, if you think I've forgotten what you said to me on my first day, you are gravely mistaken, so if you think about expressing your opinion again, to anyone, in this school, I'll beat you like I beat Cecilia, except, I won't catch you" he stared her dead in the eyes.
She was speechless, the heartless look in his eyes scared her, she backed out of the doors, the whole room was quiet, even the chef's stopped to look what was going on.
Sitting back down, Laura was surprised and smiling at the same time.
"No one has stood up for me like that, thank you" she said quietly biting into some toast.
"No need to thank me, it was about time someone put that bitch in her place, hopefully she'll think twice before speaking out next time" he smiled.
It wasn't long before the others joined them, both Charlotte and Cecilia surprised to see Laura in the cafeteria. A voice played over the speakers.
"Attention students, will Kai Hollow please report to Headmaster Chifuyu's office, that's Kai Hollow to Chifuyu's office, thank you".
"You have a last name?" the girls asked at the same time.
Kai had completely forgotten about that, he was so used to just being called Kai, if you wanted to get technical, his name wasn't even Kai, his project name was K.A.I, but the scientists just warmed to calling him Kai.
"Uh, yeah, It's an embarrassing name, I choose not to tell people" he smiled weakly.
"I'll be back soon" he said getting up, having to pull away from Laura's hand, she grabbed it when he sat back down after putting Celia in her place.
Kai knocked on Chifuyu's door, she opened it personally.
"Please come in" she asked smiling, he could smell alcohol on her breath "that jacket looks good on you".
"What's up Miss Orimura?" he walked in to the office, noticing the 2 empty bottles of whiskey on her desk, some of it spilt.
"I needed to talk to someone, and why not you? I mean, It's been 1 year today, I... I lost him" she said looking out of her office window.
"I'm sorry, lost who?" Kai asked taking a seat on the couch.
"My younger brother, Ichika" she said looking over at a cabinet.
"I was to fight in the annual Mondo Grosso, but before my last fight, my stupid brother was kidnapped, I... left the arena to save him, but... when I got there..." she stopped suddenly, her tears dripping to the floor.
Chifuyu was a strong composed woman, but to see her crying, it wasn't right. Kai got up and walked over to her.
"Miss Orimura, please tell me what happened" he asked quietly.
"When I got there, he.. he was dead, they killed him because we didn't pay the ransom in time, cut his throat because I wasn't quick enough" she managed before collapsing in a crying mess.
Looking over at the cabinet, Kai saw a small picture of a young Chifuyu and a boy a little smaller than her, they looked so alike.
"I'm sorry Miss Orimura" he said looking down to the floor.
"No, you don't need to say sorry, you want to know something pathetically funny?" she laughed climbing into her desk chair.
"I, let you into the academy, because you remind me so much of him he liked to make people smile, and I've seen what you've done around the school, you've done nothing but make people happy, it's like you was sent as a gift to me, are you Kai? Are you my brother reincarnated? Come back to forgive me? Or punish me for not saving you?" She said before crying into her desk.
"You're drunk, you're not thinking straight, you need to sleep this off" Kai said walking over and helping her out of her chair, no challenge for him.
Kai walked her over to the couch in her office, it was big enough for anyone to sleep on. He set her down and knelt beside her.
"I'm not your brother, you know who I am, but if you need anything, just let me know, there's too much pain and sadness in this world already, I'm truly sorry for your loss" he whispered.
"He would've been proud to know such a lovely boy is looking after me right now, you know that" She smiled before turning to get some sleep.
Kai left Chifuyu's office, he rested his head on the door after closing it, taking a few deep breaths, trying to take in what she just told him. Turning he slid down the door, and looked down the hallway ahead of him.
"So, I'm only here, as a replacement for her brother? I thought I had it bad" He thought.
Sitting alone gave him time to think, he though his situation was the worst it could ever be, but looking around he'd been seeing hate and sadness everywhere, why is life like this? Why must people live their lives day in day out not happy with where they are? Slowly Kai stood up, the others would be waiting for him in the cafeteria.
Walking in, there was a loud commotion, with all the girls gathered in the centre of the cafeteria, pushing his way through, he saw what it was all about. Scarlett was the centre of attention, she wasn't wearing the standard uniform, instead she was wearing black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt that showed off her large breasts quite well, and a well fitting dark-pink jacket, in fact it was in the same style of Kai's.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, silencing the room.
"Well, considering I'll be joining the Elite today, I thought I'd better look the part" She winked.
"Don't get so ahead of yourself, I'll be making sure you'll never try for the Elite again" Kai replied, he felt the same anger from the park building up again, but suppressed it.
"Oh Kai, I do love it when you speak to me like that, but why don't you back up your words?" she teased.
"You wanted to fight now? I was going to save your embarrassment until later, but I can oblige" he smirked.
"I'll see you out in the arena then sweetie" Scarlett replied.
The whole room roared in excitement, another fight so soon? Everyone ran to the arena stands, even the teachers joined them, other than Chifuyu who was still asleep in her room.
Kai, Laura and the Elite were stood by the door to the arena.
"You know what's on the line, don't you?" Cecilia said concerned.
"Yeah, don't mess this up Kai" Lin said in a worried tone.
"Guys, please have a little more faith it me, I made it into the Elite you know" he said, kind of annoyed that no one had even the smallest bit of faith in him.
"Keep in mind, you've only fought a few fights, so please excuse our scepticism" Charlotte smiled.
When the truth of the matter was that Kai had probably fought more battles than all of them combined, in his 17 years of being imprisoned in Future Genetics, he'd been fighting since he could swing a sword. Kai felt a tug on his sleeve.
"You've got this Kai, don't worry" Laura reassured him, she was still nervous about being in public, but she looked like she was getting used to it again.
"Good luck, Kai, you'll do great" Houki said smiling.
"Will contender Kai Hollow please step out into the arena please" A female voice said over the speaker.
"Well, here goes nothing" He thought walking out into the arena, the sun's light blinding him temporarily.
Across from him was the unmistakable red hair, that pale skin, and the stupid looking pink jacket.
"Lets just have fun shall we?" Scarlett smiled.
"You can have fun, I'm here to win" Kai replied, deploying his IS.
The crowd roared louder and louder, they couldn't wait for this match.
"Well then sweetie, if you're going to play rough, you're going have to..."
The last word she said sent shivers down Kai's spine, as her demonic smile got wider.
"Die".